Delhi High Court
Dheeraj Kumar Verma & Ors vs The State ( Govt Of Nct Of Delhi) & Anr. on 12 February, 2016
Author: P.S.Teji
Bench: P.S.Teji
* IN THE HIGH COURT OF DELHI AT NEW DELHI
+ CRL.M.C. 4738/2015
Date of Decision : February 12th, 2016
DHEERAJ KUMAR VERMA & ORS ..... Petitioner
Through: Mr.Ajay Wadhwa, Adv.
versus
THE STATE ( GOVT OF NCT OF DELHI) & ANR..... Respondents
Through: Ms.Manjeet Arya, APP.
Mr.Satnam Singh and
Mr.Sanjay Sharma, Advs. for R-2.
CORAM:
HON'BLE MR. JUSTICE P.S.TEJI
P.S.TEJI, J.
1. The present petition under Section 482 Cr.P.C. has been filed by the petitioners, namely, Sh. Dheeraj Kumar Verma, Sh. Chandarjeet, Smt. Rajmati Devi, Sh. Bhooshan Verma, Sh. Dev Prashad Verma and Smt. Malti Devi for quashing of FIR No.445/2010 dated 14.12.2010, under Sections 498A/34 IPC registered at Police Station Mukherjee Nagar on the basis of the compromise arrived at in the Court of Hon'ble Mr. Justice Dilbag Singh, Judge -I, Family Court, Rohini District Courts, Delhi between the petitioner no.1 and Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 1 of 12 respondent No.2, namely, Smt. Rupa Devi on 29.01.2013.
2. Learned Additional Public Prosecutor for respondent-State submitted that the respondent No.2, present in the Court has been identified to be the complainant/first-informant of the FIR in question by ASI Shyam Sunder.
3. The factual matrix of the present case is that the marriage between the petitioner no.1 and respondent no.2 was solemnized on 25.09.2009 according to Hindu rites and ceremonies. The said marriage took place without the consent of their parents. After passing of a few days, petitioner no.1 informed the complainant/respondent no.2 that his parents would not accept the marriage unless their dowry demands are met. The petitioner no.1 started pressurizing her to fulfill the dowry demands of his parents. Later on, the petitioner no.1 mentally and physically started torturing the respondent no.2 for dowry to an extent that the complainant was admitted in hospital on 06.07.2010. In order to torture the complainant, her in-laws visited her individually and collectively several times. The accused persons gave her beatings mercilessly on several occasions. In the first week of July, 2010, the petitioner no.1 left the company of the complainant Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 2 of 12 and disappeared. The petitioner no.1 intentionally did not join the company of the complainant and went underground since 05.08.2010. Left with no other option, the complainant finally went to her parental house.
Subsequently, respondent no.2 filed a complaint before the CAW Cell, Delhi against the petitioners which resulted into registration of the FIR in question. Later on, due to the intervention of Hon'ble Mr. Justice Dilbag Singh, Judge -I, Family Court, Rohini District Courts, Delhi, the parties arrived at an amicable settlement
4. Respondent No.2, present in the Court, submitted that the dispute between the parties has been amicably resolved. As per the compromise, it has been agreed between the parties that they shall take divorce by way of mutual consent. It has been agreed that petitioner no.1 shall pay an amount of Rs. 3 lacs to respondent no.2 and that this amount shall also satisfy the execution petition bearing no. Ex. 74/12 pending between the parties. It has been agreed that the schedule of payment of the above mentioned settlement amount would be as enunciated in the terms of settlement itself. It is agreed that respondent no.2 shall co-operate in the quashing of the FIR in Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 3 of 12 question before this Court. It has been agreed that the above mentioned amount of Rs. 3 Lacs shall be as full and final payment of all claims of respondent no.2, arising out of the matrimonial alliance vis-à-vis maintenance (past, present and future), permanent alimony, jewellery, stridhan, dowry articles etc. as well as satisfaction of execution petition. It has been agreed that both parties shall do their part required to bring to end all disputes between the parties. It has been agreed by both parties that they shall not initiate any proceedings against each other or their respective family members in the future. It is agreed that the petitioner no.1 shall not misuse the marriage certificate and photographs of respondent no.2 in any manner whatsoever. It has further been stated that no other cases are pending between them except the ones mentioned above. Respondent No.2 affirms the contents of the aforesaid settlement and of her affidavit dated 04.11.2015 supporting this petition. In the affidavit, the respondent no.2 has stated that she has no objection if the FIR in question is quashed. All the disputes and differences have been resolved through mutual consent. Now no dispute with petitioners survives and so, the proceedings arising out of the FIR in question be Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 4 of 12 brought to an end. Statement of the respondent No.2 has been recorded in this regard in which she stated that she has entered into a compromise with the petitioners and has settled all the disputes with them. She further stated that she has no objection if the FIR in question is quashed.
5. In Gian Singh v. State of Punjab (2012) 10 SCC 303 Apex Court has recognized the need of amicable resolution of disputes in cases like the instant one, by observing as under:-
"61. In other words, the High Court must consider whether it would be unfair or contrary to the interest of justice to continue with the criminal proceedings or continuation of criminal proceedings would tantamount to abuse of process of law despite settlement and compromise between the victim and the wrongdoer and whether to secure the ends of justice, it is appropriate that criminal case is put to an end and if the answer to the above question(s) is in the affirmative, the High Court shall be well within its jurisdiction to quash the criminal proceedings."
6. The aforesaid dictum stands reiterated by the Apex Court in a recent judgment in Narinder Singh v. State of Punjab (2014) 6 SCC
466. The relevant observations of the Apex Court in Narinder Singh (Supra) are as under:-
"29. In view of the aforesaid discussion, we sum up and lay down the following principles by which the High Court would be guided in giving adequate treatment to the settlement between the parties and Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 5 of 12 exercising its power under Section 482 of the Code while accepting the settlement and quashing the proceedings or refusing to accept the settlement with direction to continue with the criminal proceedings:
29.1 Power conferred under Section 482 of the Code is to be distinguished from the power which lies in the Court to compound the offences under Section 320 of the Code. No doubt, under Section 482 of the Code, the High Court has inherent power to quash the criminal proceedings even in those cases which are not compoundable, where the parties have settled the matter between themselves. However, this power is to be exercised sparingly and with caution.
29.2. When the parties have reached the settlement and on that basis petition for quashing the criminal proceedings is filed, the guiding factor in such cases would be to secure:
(i) ends of justice, or
(ii) to prevent abuse of the process of any court.
While exercising the power the High Court is to form an opinion on either of the aforesaid two objectives. 29.3. Such a power is not to be exercised in those prosecutions which involve heinous and serious offences of mental depravity or offences like murder, rape, dacoity, etc. Such offences are not private in nature and have a serious impact on society.
Similarly, for the offences alleged to have been committed under special statute like the Prevention of Corruption Act or the offences committed by public servants while working in that capacity are not to be quashed merely on the basis of compromise between the victim and the offender.
29.4. On the other hand, those criminal cases having overwhelmingly and predominantly civil character, particularly those arising out of commercial Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 6 of 12 transactions or arising out of matrimonial relationship or family disputes should be quashed when the parties have resolved their entire disputes among themselves.
7. The inherent powers of the High Court ought to be exercised to prevent the abuse of process of law and to secure the ends of justice. The respondent no.2 agrees to the quashing of the FIR in question without any threat or coercion or undue influence and has stated that the matter has been settled out of her own free will. As the matter has been settled and compromised amicably, so, there would be an extraordinary delay in the process of law if the legal proceedings between the parties are carried on. So, this Court is of the considered opinion that this is a fit case to invoke the jurisdiction under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to prevent the abuse of process of law and to secure the ends of justice.
8. The incorporation of inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. is meant to deal with the situation in the absence of express provision of law to secure the ends of justice such as, where the process is abused or misused; where the ends of justice cannot be secured; where the process of law is used for unjust or unlawful object; to avoid the causing of harassment to any person by using the provision Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 7 of 12 of Cr.P.C. or to avoid the delay of the legal process in the delivery of justice. Whereas, the inherent power is not to be exercised to circumvent the express provisions of law.
9. It is settled law that the inherent power of the High Court under Section 482 Cr.P.C. should be used sparingly. The Hon'ble Apex Court in the case of State of Maharashtra through CBI v. Vikram Anatrai Doshi and Ors. MANU/SC/0842/2014 and in the case of Inder Singh Goswami v. State of Uttaranchal MANU/SC/0808/2009 has observed that powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. must be exercised sparingly, carefully and with great caution. Only when the Court comes to the conclusion that there would be manifest injustice or there would be abuse of the process of the Court if such power is not exercised, Court would quash the proceedings.
10. It is a well settled law that where the High Court is convinced that the offences are entirely personal in nature and therefore do not affect public peace or tranquillity and where it feels that quashing of such proceedings on account of compromise would bring about peace and would secure ends of justice, it should not hesitate to quash them. In such cases, pursuing prosecution would be waste of time and Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 8 of 12 energy. Non-compoundable offences are basically an obstruction in entering into compromise. In certain cases, the main offence is compoundable but the connected offences are not. In the case of B.S. Joshi and others v. State of Haryana and another 2003 (4) SCC 675 the Hon'ble Apex Court observed that even though the provisions of Section 320 Cr.P.C. would not apply to such offences which are not compoundable, it did not limit or affect the powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. The Hon'ble Apex Court laid down that if for the purpose of securing the ends of justice, quashing of FIR becomes necessary, section 320 Cr.P.C. would not be a bar to the exercise of power of quashing. In the nutshell, the Hon'ble Apex Court justified the exercise of powers under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to quash the proceedings to secure the ends of justice in view of the special facts and circumstances of the case, even where the offences were non- compoundable.
In the light of the aforesaid, this Court is of the view that notwithstanding the fact the offence under Section 498A IPC is a non- compoundable offence, there should be no impediment in quashing the FIR under this section, if the Court is otherwise satisfied that the Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 9 of 12 facts and circumstances of the case so warrant.
11. The Courts in India are now normally taking the view that endeavour should be taken to promote conciliation and secure speedy settlement of disputes relating to marriage and family affairs such as, matrimonial disputes between the couple or/and between the wife and her in-laws. India being a vast country naturally has large number of married persons resulting into high numbers of matrimonial disputes due to differences in temperament, life-styles, opinions, thoughts etc. between such couples, due to which majority is coming to the Court to get redressal. In its 59th report, the Law Commission of India had emphasized that while dealing with disputes concerning the family, the Court ought to adopt an approach radically different from that adopted in ordinary civil proceedings and that it should make reasonable efforts at settlement before the commencement of the trial. Further it is also the constitutional mandate for speedy disposal of such disputes and to grant quick justice to the litigants. But, our Courts are already over burdened due to pendency of large number of cases because of which it becomes difficult for speedy disposal of matrimonial disputes alone. As the matrimonial disputes are mainly Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 10 of 12 between the husband and the wife and personal matters are involved in such disputes, so, it requires conciliatory procedure to bring a settlement between them. Nowadays, mediation has played a very important role in settling the disputes, especially, matrimonial disputes and has yielded good results. The Court must exercise its inherent power under Section 482 Cr.P.C. to put an end to the matrimonial litigations at the earliest so that the parties can live peacefully.
12. Since the subject matter of this FIR is essentially matrimonial, which now stands mutually and amicably settled between the parties, therefore, continuance of proceedings arising out of the FIR in question would be an exercise in futility and is a fit case for this Court to exercise its inherent jurisdiction.
13. In the facts and circumstances of this case, in view of statement made by the respondent No.2 and the compromise arrived at between the parties, the FIR in question warrants to be put to an end and proceedings emanating thereupon need to be quashed.
14. Accordingly, this petition is allowed and FIR No.445/2010 dated 14.12.2010, under Sections 498A/34 IPC registered at Police Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 11 of 12 Station Mukherjee Nagar the proceedings emanating therefrom are quashed against the petitioners.
15. This petition is accordingly disposed of.
(P.S.TEJI) JUDGE FEBRUARY 12, 2016 dd Crl.M.C. 4738/2015 Page 12 of 12